Organisers of Mdawuku wa Atonga (Mwato) Cultural Festival said yesterday that they are 100 percent prepared for this year’s edition to be held on Saturday at Nsani in the area of Senior Chief Mkumbira in Nkhata Bay District. The annual event, which puts in the spotlight Tonga tradition and values, started in 2017 but had breaks between 2019 and 2022 due to Covid and cholera outbreaks. Tonga Heritage Chairperson for Mzuzu Chapter Harris Mzumara said the festival will give people a treat with several activities lined up including traditional dances such as Chilimika, Honala and Malipenga.
Mzumara said this year’s festival is running under a theme which is focusing on environment conservation. He made the remarks when Chibuku Products million to support the event, which has a budget of K48 million. Mzumara indicated that they have not yet met the budgetary obligation, hence asked for more support from well-wishers.
“You would agree with me that deforestation and environmental degradation are getting worse each passing day. So, as a cultural grouping, our message is that we should conserve the environment,” he said. “You will see for yourself the place we are holding the event at; it has a lot of vegetative cover.
We want to show patrons that it is important to conserve what is remaining on the environment,” Mzumara said. Nkhata Bay District Commissioner Rodgers Newa said recently that statistics indicate that the district is losing about 3.4 percent of its trees annu.